Furniture frames for tables, chairs, and the like have corner joints commonly strengthened by wooden corner blocks that are glued and also may be screwed into the adjoining corner ends. In mass production furniture fabrication, wooden corner blocks must be mass produced and stocked in several sizes. In addition, mass production furniture fabrication requires the use of assembly jigs, and it often has been difficult to obtain a proper fit between pre-assembled frame corners and corner blocks. The use of wooden corner blocks, therefore, causes inventory and assembly problems, and can result in the production of furniture having sub-standard corner joints.
A primary object of this invention is to provide a universal corner block for furniture frames that itself can be mass produced with high quality. A further object is to provide such a corner block that is adaptable for use in a variety of corner joint applications. Another object is to provide such a corner block that is adaptable for use in bracing corner joints that are "out-of-square," intentionally or as a result of mass production fabrication procedures.
The corner block of this invention comprises an extensible body member and end pads pivotally secured to each end of the body member. The body, once extended to the desired length, is locked to that length by means of a body shear pin inserted through the body member.